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| NEWS: Dec. 13, 2016 Oversight | The Nation IGs Get More Power to Demand Agency Documents Congress handed the federal government's 72 inspectors general a victory by approving legislation to enhance the watchdogs' abilities to commandeer documents that some agencies have withheld due to privacy or national-security concerns. Not included in the bill is another tool some IGs had sought: subpoena power to compel sworn testimony from former agency employees and contractors. >> Government Executive Governor: Strengthen Oversight of Development Agency Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe proposed stronger oversight, accountability and management of the state's economic development arm, a move that follows a scathing audit of the public-private agency. >> Washington Post VA Wasted Millions on Uncoordinated IT Work, Says IG Department of Veterans Affairs technology buyers wasted more than $7 million in hardware and software licenses in an uncoordinated technology refresh, according to the agency's inspector general. >> Federal Computer Week
After Series of Deaths, Child Welfare Chief Quits Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that his child welfare commissioner was stepping down after a succession of deaths that renewed long-running concerns about the city's supervision of vulnerable children. The abrupt departure of Gladys Carrión as commissioner of the city's Administration for Children's Services is the latest blow to the mayor's health and social-services team. >> New York Times Wisconsin Ethics Commissioner Quits, Slams Agency Robert Kinney, a Democratic appointee to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, said he was resigning from the fledgling watchdog agency, criticizing what he described as improper secrecy and a failure to enforce ethics rules for lobbyists and public officials. >> Wisconsin State Journal Public Workforce | The Nation Trump's Energy Department Questionnaire Prompts Warnings of Civil-Service Violations The revelation that the Trump transition team had sent a 74-item questionnaire to Energy Department employees asking about their work on climate change has prompted lawmakers to warn of possible civil-service law violations. The request is being monitored by science associations and the Senior Executives Association. >> Government Executive Virginia Panel: Restore Canceled State Pay Raises A commission led by Virginia House Speaker William J. Howell voted to make its top priority the restoration of state-employee pay raises that were canceled because of a projected state revenue shortfall. >> Richmond Times-Dispatch
GOP Leaders Support Probes of Russian Role in U.S. Election The top two Republicans in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, said they supported investigations into possible Russian cyberattacks to influence this year's American presidential election, setting up a potential confrontation with President-elect Donald Trump, who has mocked intelligence findings that Moscow intervened. >> New York Times Clinton Campaign Backs Intelligence Briefings for Electors Hillary Clinton's campaign is supporting a request by 10 members of the Electoral College--nine Democrats and one Republican--for an intelligence briefing on foreign intervention in the U.S. election. >> Politico
Bipartisan Backlash Growing over Trump's Choice for Secretary of State President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state is facing deep skepticism in the Senate over what are perceived to be his close ties to Russia. The choice of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson is stirring a backlash on Capitol Hill, with members of both parties wary of what Tillerson's presence might mean for Trump's foreign policy. >> The Hill Veterans' Groups Urge Trump to Keep VA Secretary The nation's largest veterans' groups are urging Trump to keep President Obama's secretary of veterans affairs, Robert A. McDonald, out of concern that Trump's rumored candidates' inexperience and ideological leanings could cripple the veterans' health-care system. >> New York Times Obama Leases D.C. Offices for Post-Presidency Work President Obama has been determining what he'll work on once he leaves the White House in January, and now he has a place to do it. Obama has agreed to lease office space in the Washington, D.C., headquarters building of the nonprofit World Wildlife Fund. >> Washington Post Higher Education | The Nation For-Profit College Accreditor's Revocation Upheld U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr. upheld the department's revocation of recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, an agency that had accredited for-profit colleges that suffered recent high-profile collapses. >> Chronicle of Higher Education Maryland Chancellor's Performance Bonus Scrapped University of Maryland regents scrapped a performance bonus for the system chancellor criticized by lawmakers but restructured Robert L. Caret's compensation so he can take home just as much money. >> Washington Post >> Follow GovManagement on Twitter >> Share this edition:
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QUOTABLE “Get your head out of your app.” The name picked by the Michigan State Police for an anti-distracted-driving campaign running through this Friday, in which the agency will use troopers in unmarked vehicles in the Detroit area to look for distracted-driving offenses, which were blamed for 28 fatal crashes in the state in 2015--double the number of the previous year >> Detroit Free Press | More quotes DATAPOINT 16,720 Number of complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights in fiscal 2016, more than two and a half times the number filed in fiscal 2009, according to a new report from the department highlighting the office's work during the Obama administration on issues ranging from teacher and staffing inequities in schools to chronic absenteeism to racial disparities in school discipline policies >> Education Week | More data
The Presidency | Gordon Adams American Policy and 'Velvet Militarization' Having roundly criticized generals during the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump is now surrounding himself with them. As much as Americans like and respect their generals, civilian control of the military has nothing to do with the personal merits or otherwise of particular flag officers. The larger principle goes back to the founding of the republic: The founders worried about the influence that a military with excessive power could have on America's young democracy. The issue is the same today. It's not the risk of a military coup; the risk is in the "velvet militarization" of American foreign and national-security policy over the next four years. >> New York Times | More commentaries UPCOMING EVENTS
Heritage Foundation Address by Newt Gingrich: "The Principles of Trumpism" Today, 11 a.m.-noon ET, Washington, D.C. Heritage Foundation Lecture by Northwestern University Prof. Gary Saul Morson: "Pray for Chekhov: Or, What Russian Literature Can Teach Conservatives" Today, noon-1 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, PRI's The World and WGBH Webcast: "The Future of Food: Feeding the Planet During Climate Change" Today, 12:30 p.m. ET Brookings Institution Address by Susan B. Glasser: "Covering Politics in a 'Post-Truth' America" Today, 2-3 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Government Technology Webinar: "Lessons Learned on the Journey to the Cloud" Today, 2 p.m. ET Harvard Kennedy School Civic Analytics Network Webinar: "New Orleans Analytics Typology" Today, 4 p.m. ET Center for American Progress Discussion with U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Dec. 14, 10-11 a.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Governing HHS Special Report webinar: "Our Biggest Challenges, Our Smartest Solutions" Dec. 14, 2 p.m. ET >> Full events listings |
